Boyhood
scenes from provincial life
by J. M. Coetzee
- 12 Want to read
- 1 Have read
Coetzee has been reluctant to talk about himself. Now, revisiting the South Africa of a half century ago, he writes about his childhood and his own interior life.
Boyhood's young narrator grew up in a new development north of Cape Town, tormented by guilt and fear. With a father he did not respect, and a mother he both adored and resented, he led a double life - at school the brilliant and well-behaved student, at home the princely despot, always terrified of losing his mother's love.
His first encounters with literature, the awakenings of sexual desire, and a growing awareness of apartheid left him with baffling questions; and only in his love of the veld ("farms are places of freedom, of life") could he find a sense of belonging. Bold and telling, this masterly evocation of a young boy's life is the book Coetzee's many admirers have been waiting for, but never could have expected.
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Previews available in: Polish Chinese French Swedish English
Subjects
South African Authors, Biography, Dorf, Belletristische Darstellung, Außenseiter, Junge, Apartheid, South Africans, Young men, Fiction, Fiction, biographical, Fiction, coming of age, South africa, fiction, South African Novelists, New York Times reviewed, Autobiographical fiction, Authors, fiction, England, fiction, Authors, south african, Authors, biography, Coetzee, j. m., 1940-, AuthorsPeople
J. M. Coetzee (1940-)Places
England, London (England), LondonTimes
20th centuryShowing 9 featured editions. View all 27 editions?
| Edition | Availability |
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1
Chłopięce lata: sceny z prowincjonalnego ̇życia
2007, Znak
in Polish
- Wyd. 1.
8324008160 9788324008162
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4
Scènes de la vie d'un jeune garçon
January 14, 2002, Seuil
Mass Market Paperback
in French
2020525771 9782020525770
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5
Pojka r: scener ur ett liv i provinsen
2002, Ma nPocket
in Swedish
- Ny utg.
9176439550 9789176439555
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6
Boyhood: Scenes From Provincial Life
September 1, 1998, Penguin (Non-Classics)
in English
014026566X 9780140265668
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Boyhood: Scenes from Provincial Life
September 1, 1997, Viking Adult
Hardcover
in English
0670872202 9780670872206
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Work Description
In these fictionalised memoirs using third-person narration, Coetzee examines his childhood within the sphere of his parents' unhappy marriage, his desire for his mother and for independence from her, and his feelings towards a multi-racial South African society.
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